I’ve come to notice that in work and in life, we are often focused on solving problems. That’s what people are asking for when they come to us for advice and it’s how we feel we help them. Yet have you ever noticed how you can help someone resolve an issue only to have it come back over and over again? Or that someone comes asking for help with a problem only to react that that don’t like being ‘told what to do’.

What if we were to do something out of the ordinary?  Change our approach?  Go one step further, and give the people coming to us something bigger than they knew possible?  Shift our perspective towards looking for potential vs. looking for problems? It would be a powerful new way to add value.

Let’s start with some definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary

Problem: Any question or matter involving doubt, uncertainty, or difficulty. Difficult to deal with or control.

Potential:  Possible, as opposed to actual; the inherent ability or capacity for growth, development, or coming into being.  Something possessing the capacity for growth or development.

Here are two simple ways two can begin looking for potential:

1. Giving An A

In the book, The Art of Possibility, Rosamund Stone Zander & Benjamin Zander share a simple way to shift perceptions that’s borrowed from the life lessons of grading students in class.  What if everyone was an A student?  How would you view them and shift your expectations of them?

In doing this you find yourself speaking to people not from a place of measuring how they stack up against your standards, but from a place of respect that gives them room to realize themselves.  It gives others a possibility to live into versus an expectation to live up to.  The freely given A expresses a vision of partnership, teamwork and relationship.  Remember, you can’t change people, but you have the power to change the relationship between you.

TO DO: Every time you interact with people start off by giving them an A in your mind – set aside past interactions and any judgments you might have and credit them with the best intentions.

2.      Listen for and point out the special gifts or talents others bring to their challenging situation.

Most of us just listen for what we need from others.  Or we’re waiting for the opportunity to solve the problem and move on.  This often leads us into seeing others as problems and puts them in a box – they’re wrong, we’re right; they’re broken and we have to fix them.

On the surface, it feels like solving their problem is what they want, what you should do.  But if you dig deeper you will find that you have robbed them of knowing their power and their gifts.

TO DO: First, listen for the strengths the individual brings to the table.  (For example, someone brings a very detailed and thorough approach to their work.)

Then point out these strengths to the person.  (“Wow, it sounds like you have really done your homework and gathered a vast amount details around making this decision.”)

Lastly, reinforce their strengths and empower them to take action on their own.  (“What do you know to be true based on all that you’ve gathered?  What do you think is the best path to choose?  What more, if anything, do you need to consider?”)

The people around us are creative and resourceful.  Help them to know this and you will affect them profoundly in that moment and for much time to come.  They will start to see themselves as potential and not problems.  They will know their value and will become empowered to take ownership.

Your Call To Action: Shift your perspective from problems to potential; Grant an A to everyone you encounter.  Look for and acknowledge their potential and watch what happens!